Stance on Equity

We (our board, staff and volunteers) believe that economic disparities exist within our society. We also believe that these disparities have marginalized many community members - people of color, immigrants and refugees, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, youth, and the elderly. Additionally, we recognize that these disparities are continually perpetuated by systems that favor some rather than all.

Our vision is centered around breaking down barriers in order to build a thriving, more equitable neighborhood for all community members. It’s a big vision that we are committed to, no matter how messy or rocky the road ahead. Every person should have equal access to economic opportunity and feel empowered to be civically engaged in the neighborhood. We plan to work towards this vision in the following ways:

We will look internally at our operations, programs and way of thinking, and make important shifts that better reflect our vision.

We will work to build our organization as a true a reflection of the neighborhood.

We will spark equity dialogue across the neighborhood and encourage other individuals and groups to explore how “race, power and privilege” have created disparities.

We will intentionally invest in traditionally marginalized communities (i.e., targeting our small business services and resources towards business owners of color, women, etc.)

Our team will foster relationships across a diverse group of people in our neighborhood.

We will work with the community to understand and celebrate the diversity within our neighborhood. Nearly half of our neighborhood identifies as a person of color, and we want to acknowledge that!

We acknowledge that we are in a position of power given our funding relationship with the city and we will leverage that relationship to elevate the voices of all community members.

We know we have a lot to learn and reflect on as we seek to build a more equitable organization and community. We will also be nimble and will adjust our programming to reflect our equity stance as/where needed. We cannot promise that we’ll always get it right or be the most eloquent advocates, but, we will be transparent,honest, and continually learn.